What a brand identity project actually involves

Many people who ask a studio like ours for a brand identity project have not done one before. They know they need a logo, but they are not sure what else is involved, how long it takes, or what they will receive at the end. This article is a plain account of how the process works, written for someone who is thinking about starting a project for the first time.

It starts with a written brief

Before any design work begins, the project needs a written brief. This is a document, usually two to four pages, that describes the business, its audience, its competitors, and what the identity needs to do. Some clients arrive with a brief already written. Most do not, and that is fine. The brief is something we work out together in the first conversation.

The brief is not a formality. It is the document that the design is measured against at every stage. If a logo direction does not fit the brief, it gets set aside. If a client asks for a change that contradicts the brief, that conversation happens before the change is made.

Logo design is not the whole job

A logo is one part of a brand identity. The other parts are the colour system, the type selection, and the rules for how all of these elements are used together. Without those rules, a logo tends to drift: it gets stretched, recoloured, or placed on backgrounds that make it hard to read.

In our approach, every identity project includes a usage guide. It is not a long document, often twelve to twenty pages, but it covers the cases that come up most often: how the logo appears on a white background versus a dark one, which typefaces are used for headings and body text, and what the primary and secondary colours are in CMYK, RGB, and hex.

• Wordmark or symbol (or both)
• Colour palette with print and screen values
• Type system: heading and body typefaces
• Clear-space and minimum-size rules
• Usage examples: business card, letterhead, social profile

How long it takes

We usually plan an identity project over eight to twelve weeks, from an agreed brief to final files; the real schedule is written into the quotation. The first two weeks are research and concept development. Weeks three and four are the first presentation: usually two or three directions, each shown in enough context to be evaluated properly. The middle weeks are refinement. The final week is file preparation and handoff.

Eight weeks is a sensible minimum for a project with no unusual time pressure. Shorter timelines are possible but they compress the research phase, which is the part that makes the work specific to the client rather than generic.

What you receive at the end

Final files include the logo in vector format (AI and SVG), colour-separated versions for print, and a usage guide as a PDF. If the project includes a type system, the font licences are the client's responsibility, but we specify exactly which fonts to purchase and from which foundry.

Rights of use in the final files are set out in the quotation. As a rule the client receives the right to use the finished identity and to pass the files to other designers or printers; third-party fonts and images keep their own licences.

If you have a project in mind and want to understand the process before committing to anything, the common questions about process page covers the most frequent questions. Or send a short message directly.